Raptors clinch playoff spot for 6th straight season with Hornets' loss

The Toronto Raptors are heading back to the NBA playoffs.

The Charlotte Hornets' 131-114 road loss to the Milwaukee Bucks clinched a berth for the Raptors, who became the second team in the Association - after the Bucks - to punch their ticket.

This marks the sixth consecutive season the Raptors will be playing postseason basketball. The franchise qualified just five times during its first 18 years of existence.

The Raptors were bounced from the second round by the Cleveland Cavaliers in each of the last two years. Their deepest run came in 2016 when they lost the Eastern Conference finals in six games to LeBron James' Cavaliers.

Toronto currently sits second in the East with a 47-19 record, three games back of the Bucks for the No. 1 seed.